The field of this invention relates to plumbing and more particularly to a device which is to be temporarily installed within a plumbing system within a building structure to permit testing, to insure that all the piping connections within the plumbing system are connected in a fluid-tight manner.
In the constructing of any plumbing system within a building or home, it is required by most city and county codes that the plumbing system be tested to make sure that it is leak free. For example, if a multi-story office building is being built, every so many feet in height of the building, it is required to test the plumbing for any possible leaks. The common procedure is to install at an appropriate lower location within the plumbing a specially configured section of pipe which is defined as a "Y" section. The "Y" section has a short outwardly extending pipe which is normally closed. When it is required to test the pipe system, the plumber will open this short section of the pipe and install an inflatable bladder within the pipe and inflates such to tightly close off the discharge outlet gf the pipe system. The plumber then goes to the topmost pipe of the system, that is open, and fills such with water. The plumber then applies pressure to the required level, such as fifty pounds per square inch, and then observes if there are any leaks within any portion of the piping system. The inflatable bladder prevents escape of the water. If there are no leaks, the plumber then deflates the bladder and removes such which causes the water to escape and be discharged within the appropriate sewer located exterior of the building.
Within a forty or fifty story building, it is required that there be a substantial number of these "Y" sections installed. Each "Y" section is expensive and once it is used to affect testing of the system, the "Y" section is never used again. Also, this separate conduit from the "Y" section may provide for a collecting station for debris which can result in clogging of the plumbing system. It is desirable to utilize some form of testing assembly which eliminates the use of this "Y" section with only a normal connection arrangement to be employed between the different sections of pipe.
Reference is to be had to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 787,152, filed Oct., 15, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,664 issued Aug. 26, 1986, entitled, "PLUMBING TEST PLUG APPARATUS", by the present inventors wherein a new and novel testing system is described which utilizes a frangible plug mounted directly within the plumbing system. This frangible plug is capable of being totally dissolved after a period of time by water and, therefore, after the plug has been utilized to affect testing of the plumbing apparatus, the plug is broken and discharged through the plumbing system to hence be dissolved.
The structure of the aforementioned patent application is directed to utilizing of a flexible walled sleeve within which is located the frangible plug. When it is desired to break the plug, the flexible walled sleeve is squeezed until the plug breaks.
The structure of the present invention utilizes the concept of a frangible plug, but without the use of the flexible walled sleeve. The structure of this invention is directed to the method of making a pipe testing apparatus which uses the frangible plug being mounted within a rigid walled sleeve.